Report: Polish Minister says US Ties Worthless

Created: 06/22/2014 9:45 AM KSTP.com
By: Megan Stewart

The outside of “Sowa i Przyjaciele” (Sowa and Friends) restaurant in Warsaw, Poland on Friday, June 20, 2014. The restaurant’s manager, identified only as Lukasz N., is a suspect in an eavesdropping scandal that is rocking Poland’s government.Photo: Photo: AP/Czarek Sokolowski

A Polish magazine said Sunday it has obtained recordings of a conversation in which Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says the country's strong alliance with the U.S. "isn't worth anything" and is "even harmful because it creates a false sense of security."

In a short transcript of the conversation, a person identified as Sikorski by the magazine Wprost tells former finance minister, Jacek Rostowski, that Poles naively believe the U.S. bolsters their security. Using vulgar language, the person argues that such beliefs are nonsense, and that the Polish-U.S. alliance alienates the Russians and Germans.

There has been no official confirmation that it is Sikorski who speaks in the conversation.

Wprost last week set off a political storm in Poland with the release of a recording of a conversation between central bank head Marek Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz. In the recording the two discussed how the bank could help the governing party win re-election in 2015, an apparent violation of the bank's independence.

That publication has already threatened to bring down the government of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and the new recording is expected to add to the troubles. Although the latest conversation doesn't reveal any illegal actions, the strong language and opinions would likely put the foreign minister on the defensive if they are confirmed to be true.

Sikorski has been an outspoken critic of the Kremlin and has strongly criticized Russian actions in Ukraine this year. In the past he was a strong supporter of the United States, though he has become more critical of Washington in recent years.

He has also been widely mentioned as a possible successor to Catherine Ashton as the EU's foreign policy chief. Poland officially put him forward as a candidate last month.

The government will make a comment after the recording is published in full, spokeswoman Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska said.

Wprost said it will publish the sound files of the recording Monday or Tuesday.

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